The Water Wheel
A rare artist-painted postcard, likely by an amateur. Sir Malcolm Darling (1880-1969), a "maverick" I.C.S. Officer who spent over 40 years in Punjab, was a friend of E.M.
Agriculture
A Tea Estate, Darjeeling.
A very early postcard of Darjeeling which nicely represents, visually, the colonial project: a sprawling European building dominating lush grounds while tiny workers pluck away at tea leaves under the watchful gaze of a man in a solar topee.
Raw Jute Mill, Calcutta
Jute was one of the major agricultural products during the Raj and for some period afterwards, with most of the crop grown in East Bengal, and the fiber processed in mills in and around Kolkata.
Cotton Cart
A well-reserved "Lichtdruck" in German or "light-print" which offers the touch of a painted work for one anna.
Cotton Cart
"Thousands of these carts, all over Bombay. 14/4/06"
An Indian Well
A less-typical image of an "Indian well," with a rugged sloping foreground that reminds the viewer how far beneath water could lie and the messiness of its extraction.
Pounding Grain in Kashmir
Women of Kashmir pounded grain to remove hard shells and grind it into flour using long wooden poles; those who lived in small boats moored along the banks of rivers sat at the prows while pounding grain.
Rice Fields, Ceylon
Traditional wet rice farming involves keeping the rice seeds and young plants submerged under water to keep weed infestation at bay until the young rice plants are well established.
The Harvest
One of those postcards which remind you what an exceptional artist M.V. Dhurandhar was. In the midst of a harvest, with giant sheaves of the crop as if pulled apart like curtains, stands a woman in red with sickle in hand.
Persian Wheels all over Indus
"Persian" is likely a misnomer; the traditional waterwheel method of lifting water probably came from the area and went to Persia and came back centuries later under a new name.
